Running News Daily

Augustine Choge, Victor Chumo and Bernard Lagat have been selected to pace for Eliud Kipchoge in his mission to run the first sub two hour marathon

Three seasoned road runners, Augustine Choge, Victor Chumo from Kenya and double world champion Bernard Lagat of the United States have been selected to pace for Eliud Kipchoge in his mission to run the marathon in less than two hours in Vienna in October.

Choge and Chumo are part of the team training with Kipchoge in Kenya for the race, which is set for October 12-20 window in Vienna, Austria. A specific date will be made known days to the race after the accurate weather forecast has been confirmed.

Kipchoge says to break the two-hour mark in marathon is about setting history and challenging his body to the limit.

"It's like stepping on the moon, going up the tallest mountain and even going to the middle of the ocean," Kipchoge said on Saturday.

Whereas the focus will be on the Olympic and London Marathon champion to improve on his last mark of two hours and 25 seconds, the three pace setters will carry the burden to lead the Berlin champion through his steps and see to it that he delivers the results for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.

In Monza, Italy in 2017, Lagat was one of the pace setters together with Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa and Eritrea's Zersenay Tadese, both of whom fell by the wayside, leaving the Olympic champion to run over half of the race alone.

But now the organizers have announced the trio together with Norway's Henrik, Filip and Jakob Ingebrigtsen plus Australian pair Jack Rayner and Brett Robinson.

Further pacemakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Katie Johnstone will take part in Great North Run 2019 to find cure for disease that killed her mum

Katie Johnstone will take part in Great North Run 2019 in memory of her much-loved mum. Katie Johnstone says her mum, Emma, died in June 2018 at the age of 44 after a long illness with Huntingson's Disease.

This is a condition that stops parts of the brain working properly over time. It's inherited from a person's parents.

It gets gradually worse over time and is usually fatal after a period of up to 20 years. The mum-of-three started experiencing symptoms in her early 30s, which stopped her from pursuing her dream career as a midwife.

"Not a lot of people know what Huntingson's Disease is," says Katie. "When I was growing up, my mum had present symptoms and sometimes stumbled. People used to laugh and think she was drunk.

"It really upset me, I was around nine or 10 years old."

Katie was tested for the disease and the tests came back negative in July.

However, she 'feels guilty' to have escaped the illness as her sister, 21-year-old Holly, has been diagnosed with a juvenile form of the condition.

She explained: "She got her diagnosis a couple of years ago. It's heartbreaking. "It's a 50/50 chance [you will inherit it]. I do feel guilty for getting away from it.

"But I need to support my sister and she was very happy for me with my results." Katie's grandmother also died from the disease at the age of 47.

By taking part in the 13 mile run, the 25-year-old is hoping to raise awareness of the disease as well as money for the Huntingson's Disease Association.

The charity works to fund research into the illness, with the hope of finding a cure - as there is no cure currently. Katie said: "My aim is to raise awareness of this rare disease and raise money for the charity to fund research to help find a cure.

"This disease devastates families all over the world. There is only around 12 people in every 100,000 people who suffer from this disease.

What is the longest someone has run without stopping?

In 1992, after taking a 15-year break from running, it wasn’t enough for Dean Karnazes’ first run to be 30 miles. Winning the infamous, 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon across Death Valley in 120-degree heat didn’t cut it. Nor did pushing the opposite end of spectrum of human suffering by running a marathon to the South Pole, at -13-degrees F.

From October 12-15, 2005, Karnazes ran 350 miles across Northern California without stopping. He didn’t stop to sleep or to eat, or – in the most stupefying accomplishment of all – he did not even slow down to sample a Sonoma Valley chilled chardonnay. All told, he ran for 80 hours, 44 minutes without a break. He covered ground – from San Francisco to Bodega Bay to Stanford University, in Palo Alto – that many of us would plan for a weeklong road trip in a car.

The outing, which cost him a few toenails, included 40,000 calories of intake over the 3.3(ish) days, required shoe changes every 50 miles or so to accommodate his ever-swelling feet, and wasn’t originally supposed to be quite so long. After winning the Badwater in 2004, Karnazes set the goal to be the first runner to go 300 miles without stopping. Because, why not?

Scott Fauble is dealing with the flu and won’t be running Falmouth

After dealing with the flu, Scott Fauble was pulled from Sunday's Falmouth Road Race, a 7-mile event that takes place in Falmouth, Massachusetts, annually. He took second place last year, crossing the finish line as the first American male, with Canada's Ben Flanagan taking the 2018 title.

"Bad news, you guys," Fauble tweeted on Thursday. "I won’t be running Falmouth this weekend. I got sick earlier this week and it just wasn’t going to be the right call to race this weekend. I’m disappointed to miss this iconic event. I expect to be healthy and to crush at the USATF 20K champs in a few weeks."

This year's USATF 20K Championships take place Monday, Sept. 2, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Fauble has laced up for just one race since taking seventh place at the 2019 Boston Marathon in April, where he was the first American to finish. Boston was the third marathon of his career, and he set his PR of 2:09:09 there.

Ingebrigtsen brothers Jakob, Filip and Henrik hope to help Eliud Kipchoge break two hours for the marathon in Vienna in October

Ingebrigtsen brothers confirmed as INEOS 1:59 Challenge pacemakers.

Famous running brothers Jakob, Filip and Henrik Ingebrigtsen have been confirmed as part of the pacemaking team for Eliud Kipchoge’s INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna this October.

In a recent interview, world marathon record-holder Kipchoge described breaking the two-hour barrier for the 26.2-mile event as “like the first man to go to the moon” and so far eight athletes have been announced as being part of the ‘pacemaking family’ which will hope to help the Kenyan to achieve it.

Last year, aged just 17, Jakob won both 1500m and 5000m titles at the European Championships and this autumn the Norwegian – who will then be 19 – will be the youngest of Kipchoge’s pacemakers, 25 years younger than USA’s Bernard Lagat who at 44 years old will be the oldest.

“To be a teenager and to be part of this project is really amazing,” said Jakob. “As a family we are used to running together and to be able to run together, alongside other great athletes to help Eliud Kipchoge try to break two hours will be something very special.”

Filip added: “Kipchoge was so close last time he tried at Breaking2 and he has improved since then.

“If he is in the sort of form he was in when he broke the world record in Berlin last year – and with three hares flying in from Norway to help – I expect there to be a record.”

Joining the ‘three hares’ will be Lagat, Kenyans Augustine Choge and Victor Chumo and Australians Jack Rayner and Brett Robinson.

Further pacemakers are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

Despite Injury, Ben Flanagan is set to return to the Falmouth Road Race

History was made in Falmouth when Flanagan ran a nearly perfect strategic race and shocked the field to capture the Falmouth Road Race. Unfortunately there will be no repeat of that smile crossing the finish line in the Falmouth Heights. The affable University of Michigan grad, who is now running professionally for Team Reebok, will not get the chance to defend his title.

A stress injury to Flanagan’s leg has knocked him to the sideline for this year’s race. He recently was informed by his medical team that he would be unable to run for six weeks. After that will come rehabilitation, which potentially could knock out most, if not all, of the remaining competitive racing for him this year.

“It’s an unfortunate thing. I was really looking forward to coming back and racing Falmouth again,” he said. “I’m excited to still be able to be here and be involved, but it would have been nice to be on the line again.”

The best-case scenario is that Flanagan could be back racing by late in the fall. That would be all of the major events for 2019, but he is setting his sights squarely on 2020.

As the 2018 Falmouth champ works his way back toward being healthy and fast, his aim is to peak in time for the 2020 Canadian Olympic trials. If he qualifies for a spot in the Olympics, which will be held in Tokyo, that would be at the top of his priority list for next year.

“That would just be amazing. That’s a thing I’ve wanted to be a part of since I was nine years old, since I first started doing sports,” he said. “It’s been such a long journey... it’s really just so special. It would be a dream come true.”

As for this year, Flanagan will be involved in the presentation of Road Race weekend. He spoke to a group of youngsters on behalf of the FRR yesterday,, August 15, then today Friday, August 16, Flanagan is set to speak at the annual press conference in the morning before handing out bibs and numbers at the Road Race Expo later in the day. Tomorrow On Saturday he will be part of the Champions meet-and-greet at the Expo and also plans to be at the Mile Races at Falmouth High School later in the day. He will attend the Road Race on Sunday, but was unsure of where he’d be.

Flanagan said he was excited to help in any capacity. He has become very fond of Falmouth, and not just because his win helped launch his professional career.

He also met his girlfriend here. Because he hails from the University of Michigan, Flanagan stayed with the Ghelfi family last year. Hannah Ghelfi is a rising senior at the U of M, where she is one of the top golfers for the Wolverines. With their school in common, the pair hit it off and began to see one another during the fall semester. Ben graduated in December and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to train professionally. He was in Falmouth around Christmastime, and said that he plans on being in Falmouth, or at Michigan, whenever he can.

“It’s just funny that Hannah and I spent a number of years together at Michigan and never met until the race,” he said.

He said that he has become more and more familiar with the town through his visits, and has come to really enjoy being on Cape Cod. With his prime racing years still ahead of him, there’s every reason to believe that Flanagan and Falmouth could go together hand-in-hand. It’s a budding relationship that got off to a fantastic start. The future looks bright.

Armin Gooden is set to compete at the Leadville 100-Mile Trail Race this Saturday

Armin Gooden was four years old in 1983 when the once-booming mining town of Leadville, Colorado – on the verge of economic devastation after the closure of Climax Mine in 1982 – hosted the first-ever Leadville Trail 100-mile run.

Race founder Ken Chlouber had organized the trail run in what’s considered North America’s highest incorporated town, elevation-wise. He hoped it would salvage Leadville from virtual ruin after more than 3,000 workers were left unemployed in the wake of the mine’s closure the year before.

On Saturday, Aug. 17, Gooden will be four decades old when he tries his hand – well, legs – at the iconic 100-mile course which snakes 50 miles out and back through the Colorado Rockies. Terrain is comprised mostly of forest trails with a few mountain roads mixed in, its website says.

Gooden, whose 40th birthday fell on this past Sunday, is a 1997 graduate of Buckhannon-Upshur High School. His mom, Idress, and dad, Dave, still live in Upshur County.

But they’ll be in Leadville at 4:30 a.m. sharp Saturday, when the race begins. The Leadville 100’s lowest point measures about 9,200 feet and its highest peak 12,600 feet. That point is known as Hope Pass – or ‘Hopeless Pass’ by runners “because it crushes souls and destroys dreams,” Gooden says. In fact, a local CBS station out of Twin Lakes, Colorado, on Thursday reported that a 28-member team of llamas and their human guides hauled approximately 3,000 pounds of food, drinks and gear up to an aid station at Hope Pass.

Gooden good-naturedly called the race his “mid-life suffer-fest” Wednesday in a Facebook post when he thanked his friends on social media for their recent birthday wishes: “Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Stay tuned for live tracking at my mid-life suffer-fest in just a little over two days,” he wrote.

The primary question that runners who do ultra-marathons– especially hundred-mile ultra-marathons – face is: “Why?” Why subject yourself to such a “mid-life suffer-fest,” as Gooden put it? After all, only about 50 percent of runners who qualify through the lottery actually complete the Leadville 100, Gooden said. Others must drop out if they don’t make various cut-off points throughout the course, including completing the first 50 miles in 14 hours or under.For Gooden, who’s now a resident of a Denver-area suburb, the thirst to complete the Leadville 100 began as a mode of mental survival.“I had a really rough year in life the past year-and-a-half,” Gooden said. “I did this huge climbing trip in Alaska at Denali National Park, and I sort of cheated death after surviving this crazy storm. I had gone through a really bad divorce, and I was in no mental space to run, but I needed some kind of outlet.”

“A good friend of mine knew I wasn’t in the best place, so he said, ‘You’re going to start running again, and you’re going to pace me in the Leadville 100,’” Gooden recalled. “Life just kind of gave me what I needed.”

Pacing his friend in the 2018 Leadville 100 – for a 14-mile section from miles 62 to 74 – was enough to hook Gooden.

“It was pretty awe-inspiring,” Gooden said. “I muled for him. I carried all his water and food. It really allows you to experience team camaraderie. I knew right then and there – I decided, ‘I’m doing this next year.’”

Of course, it wasn’t exactly Gooden’s first rodeo when it came to running.

He was a standout cross-country and track and field runner in high school who was recently inducted into the Buckhannon-Upshur High School Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the school’s undefeated state champion cross-country team in 1993. Gooden went on to run at Frostburg State University in Maryland. However, his college career ended when he was plagued by persistent lower back pain.

“I actually quit running in college because I had so much lower back pain,” he recalled. “I can go for a seven-hour run now and have no lower back pain.”

Combined with natural running talent, Gooden, who works as an emergency room nurse, has always had an appetite for adventure. In addition to Denali National Park in 2018, he’s also mountain-climbed in the Peruvian Andes and Island Peak in Nepal. He completed the Grand Traverse Ski Mountaineering Race from Aspen to Crested Butte, Colorado, as well as the Dirty 30 50K – about 31 miles – in June 2019, too.

Kenya´s Philemon Rono will be looking for another title at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Philemon Rono of Kenya has won the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon twice–the first time in 2016, and the second time in 2017, when he set the Canadian all-comers record of 2:06:52 (also his personal best).

Rono, who trains with NN Running (marathon world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge’s group), was dealing with a calf injury and didn’t have a great race in 2018, finishing ninth in 2:13:36, but the diminutive runner they call Baby Police is healthy and will be back on October 20, hoping not only to win, but to lower his Canadian soil record.

Rono raced at Boston in April, finishing eighth, in 2:08:57–which he was happy with. He is currently running about 200K per week with the NN Training group in Kaptagat under the direction of coach Patrick Sang.

Kipchoge has a big influence on the training, Rono says. “We watch everything he does.” Many accounts of Kipchoge’s training make note of the fact that while living in camp from Monday to Saturday, he takes his turn mopping floors and scrubbing toilets like everyone else. When not working out, the group loves to watch soccer on TV. Like Kipchoge, Rono travels home to his farm on weekends, where he spends time with his wife and young son, and tends his cattle.

Rono’s stiffest competition so far announced will be Abera Kuma, who has a personal best of 2:05:50, and Benson Kipruto, who won last year’s marathon in 2:07:24 (which was seconds off his PB).

The race will also serve as the Canadian marathon championships and unofficial Olympic trials, with the top Canadian male automatically qualifying for Team Canada at Tokyo 2020 (provided he achieves the Olympic standard of 2:11:30 within the qualifying window). 

Reid Coolsaet, Dylan Wykes, Rob Watson and Canadian marathon record-holder Cam Levins will all be on the start line on October 20.

The Mandela Day Marathon participation of female runners has been growing more and more each year

 The number of female runners who entered this year’s edition of the marathon across all races is 6058.

Fezeka Hadebe from Mbombela in the Mpumulanga Province who will be taking part in the half marathon, said she enjoys running.

“I am looking forward to running on race day. I have prepared myself with the training, I have done leading up to the race and I am confident that I will complete the distance before the cut-off time,” said the 25-year-old athlete.

Nonhlanhla Zondi from Richmond said she will again hit the tarmac in the 10 KM race this year.

“I ran it for the first time last year and I finished in the time of one hour 30 minutes. I enjoyed the run last year and I am looking forward to the race this year,” added Zondi who said running helps her maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Another female entrant from Hilton near Pietermaritzburg, Lindiwe “Koko” Maphela will be running the marathon for the fourth time.

“I started with the 10KM race, after that, I ran the half-marathon. In the 2018 edition of the marathon, I ran and completed the 42.2 KM. I enjoyed it and I must admit it was easier than I anticipated,” said Maphela who will be running the coveted 42.2 KM race again this year.

“I enjoy running, I actually love it. Running has made my life better. I am a better human being because of it. The benefits are far-reaching for me than a healthy lifestyle. I am more patient and less stressed. I encourage other people to take up running it will change your lives,” added Maphela.

Thousands of rands are once again up for grabs to the athletes who will cross the finish line ahead of the rest across all the three races, with position one in both men and women in the 42.2 km race expected to walk away with R100 000 each, with runners up expected to pocket R50 000 while the third-placed man and woman will each receive R25 000.

There are also prize monies to be won in both the 21 and 10 km races. The first male and female to complete 21 km will receive R20 000 while the winners of the 10km race will each take home R10 000. The runners up on the half marathon will pocket R15 000 and the third position has a purse of R12 000. Runners up in the 10 km race will receive R8 000 while third place has a prize money of R6 000.

Abbott has announced a new partnership with the Longford Marathon to become the title sponsor for the race in 2019

The marathon, which is in its 18th year, will take place on Sunday, August 25 and is expected to attract more than 1,200 participants.Ciaran Corcoran, strategic programmer director of Abbott’s diagnostic business site in Longford said:  "Abbott has been a proud member of the Longford Community for more than 15 years, employing more than 700 people and we’re delighted to support the Longford Marathon, which is one of the largest events held in Longford each year. "Marathon runners truly embody the idea that at our healthiest, we can accomplish amazing things. Our sponsorship of the Longford Marathon allows Abbott to celebrate the health and achievement of people from all over Ireland.”A keen marathon runner, this year will see Ciaran Corcoran run the Abbott Longford Marathon for the 5th time. “I’m delighted that so many of my colleagues are joining me in this year’s marathon.

The support along the route from the people of Longford is tremendous. There is great excitement among our employees from Abbott’s 9 sites across Ireland, a significant number of whom will be participating on the day.

Not only is the marathon contributing to a great community spirit, it is also raising funds for St Christopher’s Services Longford, which provides services for the intellectually disabled throughout the midlands."

Fiona Fenelon organizer of the Longford Marathon said; “We are delighted to partner with Abbott as title sponsor of this year’s race. Abbott is one of the largest employers in the region and as a company focused on helping people to live their best lives, is a perfect partner for us.

"This year’s Abbott Longford Marathon will be one of the biggest ever, attracting participants from throughout the country. The Abbott Longford Marathon includes a range of race distances from a 5km race to a 63km ultra marathon. Regardless of ability and experience, participants can reach a meaningful personal achievement."

Brain aneurysm survivor Karen Daly is running in the 47th annual New Balance Falmouth Road Race

South Easton resident and brain aneurysm survivor Karen Daly will run in the 47th annual New Balance Falmouth Road Race on Aug. 18 to commemorate her journey as a brain aneurysm survivor, after having suffered a rupture in 2014.

As a member of the eight-person charity team, Daly will support the Brain Aneurysm Foundation’s efforts to raise awareness, education, support, advocacy and research funding for the disease.

Daly had a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm on Jan. 25, 2014. She

was able to maintain consciousness long enough to call her husband for help. He rushed her to the emergency room where they did a CT scan, then immediately sent her to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, where she underwent surgery to repair three aneurysms.

“Surviving the rupture and the med flight to Boston was the first of many miracles for

which my family and I are grateful. Forty percent of people who suffer a rupture die before

making it to the hospital,” said Daly. “With the support of family, friends and a lot of hard work and perseverance, I am able to run the Falmouth Road Race to support an organization that has supported me, my family and so many others affected by brain aneurysms.”

This is the third year in a row that BAF has been awarded a charity spot in the race. The BAF charity team comprises participants who have had personal experiences with brain aneurysm disease.

“We’re very grateful to all of the incredibly strong participants representing team BAF at the Falmouth Road Race this year,” said Christine Buckley, executive director of BAF. “Funds raised by the team will support critical research that could better the outcomes for other families dealing with this devastating disease.”

More than 11,000 runners will participate in the New Balance Falmouth Road Race, a 7-mile course which starts in Woods Hole, wraps along the Falmouth shoreline and finishes in Falmouth Heights.

Electrolytes help reduce muscle cramps for runners

Are you skeptical about whether drinking electrolyte beverages helps with muscle cramps? New evidence says it doesn’t prevent muscle cramping, but that it does reduce your susceptibility.

It’s well established that we sweat out electrolytes during exertion, and the more we sweat, the more we lose. Moreover, the loss of electrolytes is believed to contribute to muscle cramping, which plagues many endurance runners. This study was designed to shed more light on the role of electrolyte drinks in reducing and controlling muscle cramps.

The study by four US researchers, published in the journal Muscle & Nerve on July 26, is admittedly small (nine well-hydrated, cramp-prone subjects), but suggests the use of electrolyte beverages does help, to some degree.

The study assessed the test group’s cramp susceptibility before and after drinking an electrolyte beverage containing 840 mg of sodium, 320 mg of potassium, and 5 mg of magnesium. The control group drank a placebo beverage that was indistinguishable in taste and appearance from the test group’s drink.

The intensity of cramps was measured using a verbal pain scale and electromyography, and researchers assessed the runners’ susceptibility by measuring the nerve stimulation threshold frequency.

Here’s what they found: cramps still happened, but cramping came later and less frequently in the electrolyte group than the placebo group. Electromyography showed similar results between the two groups, but the electrolyte group reported less pain verbally than the placebo group.

The study considered electrolyte consumption independently of hydration.

Eliud Kipchoge says that he has no doubts, he will break the two hours barrier for the marathon in Vienna

Eliud Kipchoge is convinced he will run the first sub-two hour marathon in Vienna in October.

The Olympic champion and world record holder ran an unofficial 2:00.25 at Italy's Monza race track in May 2017 in his first attempt to break the magic barrier.

But speaking to journalists on a conference call from his home in Kaptagat, Kipchoge said, "I have no doubts at all. Absolutely clear on the goal."

If he is successful, he believes it will be in the same bracket as the first lunar landing 50 years ago and the ascent of Mount Everest in terms of human achievement.

And Kipchoge thinks achieving his goal will enable others to follow in his footsteps.

The 34-year-old added, "I think after doing it, then many people will have courage. Many athletes will believe in themselves that this is possible.

Kipchoge, who plans to defend his Olympic title at Tokyo 2020, said he decided on this second attempt after coming so close at the Breaking 2 in Monza.

He said, "It’s the right time for me try and run under two hours. But above all, I decided I should try and make history before the Olympics."

Kipchoge announced in June that he would switch his bid for history from London to the Austrian capital.

He will run in the Prater public park, situated next to the River Danube, taking in at least four laps of the Hauptallee, the avenue running through it.

The Kenyan's management team cited "consistent and optimum weather conditions in October, fresh air, wide, traffic-free and illuminated roads and the ability to have supporters lining the route" among their reasons for choosing Vienna.

The attempt is due to take place on 12th October but there will be a reserve window of eight days to allow for the best possible weather.

This is being run like a time trial and the time will not count as a world record by the IAAF.

Max Glover, 32, completed the charity challenge pulling a BMW car over the 26.2 mile distance

Max Glover, 32, completed the charity challenge at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, Leicestershire, in 21 hours 58 minutes.  The former Royal Marines commando raised nearly £2,000 ($2410US) for the Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity Transplant Appeal.

He said he was inspired to embark on the challenge after a friend had a double lung transplant.  Max enlisted friends to steer the 1.7 ton BMW 5 series as he pulled it along the vehicle testing track in Lutterworth on August 3.

He said: "I thought I may as well use my passion for doing challenges to do some good and raise a bit of money. It started hurting quite a bit towards the end but I just put one foot in front of the other and it was no problem.

"It took longer than I'd hoped as the track was steeper than expected."

Kenyan Stephen Sambu will be looking for his fifth Falmouth Road Race title this Sunday

After coming up a little short in his bid to become the first person to ever win five Falmouth Road Race titles after claiming four in a row from 2014 to 2017, Kenyan Stephen Sambu aims to make history once again on Sunday, August 18, in the 47th running of the Falmouth Road Race.

Sambu fell shy of the feat when Canadian Ben Flanagan shocked the field last year to become the first North American to win the race in 30 years. Sambu faded to a fourth place finish in the 2018 race.

With Flanagan out of action with an injury, Sambu is considered the favorite, along with his friend Leonard Korir, of the United States, to take the crown. Sambu and Korir battled in one of the most memorable finishes in race history in 2017, with Sambu edging his buddy down the final hill in the Falmouth Heights to take the crown.

Americans Sara Hall and Des Linden will return for the 47th running of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race to highlight the women's field.

Sambu won the New Balance Falmouth Road Race every year from 2014-2017, becoming the first four-time winner of the men’s open division in race history. The runner-up in two of those victories was Korir, a 2016 Olympian at 10,000 meters, who will represent the US this fall at the IAAF World Championships. In 2017, Korir nearly denied Sambu his place in the history books in a fight to the finish that saw both athletes awarded the same time.

Sambu and Korir will be challenged by a tough international field that includes Thomas Ayeko of Uganda, who finished seventh in the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships; David Bett of Kenya, who won the B.A.A. 10K in June; and Silas Kipruto of Kenya, winner of the 2019 Cooper River Bridge Run.

Massachusetts native Colin Bennie, who was the top American at the AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4, and Scott Fauble, a top contender to make Team USA at the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials in February and the Falmouth runner-up last year, should be in the hunt.

Shalane Flanagan went for her first post-surgery run–12 minutes of run-walking on an anti-gravity treadmill

It’s been four months since 2017 NYC Marathon winner and 2018 third-place finisher Shalane Flanagan had surgery to repair her severely damaged right patellar tendon, and yesterday she happily posted a photo of her first post-surgery run–on a Woodway Boost anti-gravity treadmill–on Instagram.

“I still know how to run!” Flanagan posted. She reports that she ran two-and-ones (two minutes running, one minute walking) for 12 “bliss-filled” minutes at 70 to 77 per cent of her bodyweight. “I was soooooooo excited for today that I actually laid out my running clothes last night (just like I would do before the first day of school when I was a kid).”

Flanagan’s surgery was a patellar tendon allograft and chondroplasty, meaning tissue from a recently deceased person (actually from the hamstring of a 21-year-old) was used to repair her patellar tendon, which was then anchored to her tibia with three screws.

The tissue donor’s family was willing to have her know their identity, and Flanagan reached out to thank them with a personal letter. “I’m moved beyond words knowing what a gift I’ve been given,” she posted.

Anti-gravity treadmills are commonly used to aid in athlete rehabilitation. Air pressure technology allows the athlete to reduce impact while running, and they can transition gradually to supporting their full body weight. According to her posts, Flanagan has been walking and doing strengthening workouts in the gym for some time. Looks like it’s too soon to say when we might see her back on the racing circuit.

In 2017 Flanagan became the first American woman to win the TCS New York City Marathon in 40 years. In 2018 she finished third behind Mary Keitany and Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya.

Runners of all varieties can draw some lessons from Flanagan’s experience: one, don’t take your ability to run for granted. Two, don’t give in to discouragement if you’re injured and can’t run. 

Reece Prescod and Laura Muir, two of Britain’s leading medal hopes, will both be absent from the world Championships for Doha

Britain have suffered a worrying double injury blow ahead of next month’s World Championships, with Reece Prescod on the verge of missing the event and Laura Muir facing a race against time to regain full fitness.

With that latter event serving as the national trials for the Doha World Championships, any athlete who does not compete will have to rely on the selectors to be given the sole discretionary spot available per event.

That should be a given in the 1500m for Muir, who injured her calf when triumphing at the London Anniversary Games last month but has finished in the top three at all five Diamond League races she has contested this summer.

She is hoping to return to racing at the start of September, although a six-week absence from competition is far from ideal preparation for the four-time European champion, who has her sights firmly set on making the podium in Doha.

Prescod’s situation is more serious, with the double reigning national 100m champion and European silver medalist looking unlikely to recover from a hamstring problem in time to gain selection for the World Championships.

Prescod opened his season by running 9.97 seconds in Shanghai in May, but hobbled over the line when picking up the injury during only his second outdoor race at June’s Oslo Diamond League.

With the British selectors meeting just eight days after the national trials in Birmingham, Prescod has little chance of proving his form and fitness following two and a half months out.

Selecting someone who has completed just one race at full speed all summer would be a major risk and it is understood Prescod does not want to be considered for the team if he is not in good enough shape to make the world final in Doha.

His absence would be a significant blow to a British team short of genuine individual medal contenders. Dina Asher-Smith (100m and 200m), Katarina Johnson-Thompson (heptathlon) and Muir are all expected to make the World Championships podium, while Prescod’s fellow 100m sprinter Zharnel Hughes has strong claims after winning European gold last year.

The rest of the British contingent head to Doha with varying levels of aspiration, rather than expectation, of winning a medal.

Muir has repeatedly come within touching distance of a first global outdoor medal, having finished fifth and fourth over 1500m the last two World Championships and seventh at the Olympics.

Massachusetts runners are the fastest marathoners in the United States

When it comes to marathons, it's hard to top Massachusetts. It's home to the Boston Marathon, arguably the world's most famous 26.2-mile race.

Now, a new study claims the state's marathoners are the fastest in the country.

The study was completed by a Danish research team from RunRepeat. Billed as the largest survey of race results in history and conducted in collaboration with the IAAF, its conclusions are based on data from more than 107 million race results from 1986 to 2019.

Massachusetts runners have an average marathon time of 4 hours, 4 minutes, 20 seconds, according to the study. That's nearly 14 minutes quicker than the second fastest state, Washington, which has an average of 4:18:09. Indiana ranks third at 4:18:57. For comparison, the report says Alaska (5:30) Florida (5:33) and Hawaii (6:16) are the three slowest states overall.

The average marathon time for Massachusetts women is 4:15:01, which is faster than the average time for men in more than 30 states. Massachusetts men average 3:54:31 for the marathon, according to the new study. Again, that's a big jump in time over runner-up Washington, whose men average 4:05:56.

The report is based on residency. If a runner from Massachusetts runs the New York Marathon, the result is attributed to Massachusetts.

The study doesn't explain why Massachusetts runners are faster than the rest of the country, but Danny McLoughlin of RunRepeat has a theory.

"I think that the goal of the Boston Marathon qualifying time acts as an inspiration to the people of Massachusetts," he said. "To have such a prestigious marathon in your own state that you have to reach a certain level to qualify for can act as a target for a lot of local runners and push them to a level they would not have achieved otherwise without this target hanging over them."

New Mexico ranks 44th overall in the study but its runners are getting faster. They shaved more than 27 minutes off their average marathon times over the last decade. It's one of 12 states where average times have improved over the last decade. The rest have slowed down.

New York leads the way when it comes to marathon participation, accounting for  close to 14% of all American marathoners. Massachusetts is fifth at just under 6%. Overall, participation in marathons in the U.S. peaked in 2014, with 545,390 people running 26.2 miles races.

While the overall number of marathoners has declined in the last five years, the number of women running marathons has been on the rise, according to the study. In Florida and Illinois, the two states that have the most female marathoners, there are actually more women running the distance than men.

Runners from all 50 states participate in the Boston Marathon every year, where these finish times have a practical application. Marathon organizers have tightened general qualifying standards by 5 minutes across the board for the 2020 race. A 40-year-old man now has to run 3:10 to qualify. A 40-year-old woman has to run 3:40.

Over the last few years, just having a qualifying time isn't good enough to get into the iconic race, which has a cap on participants. According to Runner's World, more than 7,000 qualified runners were not accepted into this year's race. You had to be nearly 5 minutes faster than your age and gender qualifying time to get a coveted bib.

After 35 years, the Louisville Triple Crown of Running race series has been cancelled

The series consists of the Anthem 5K Fitness Classic, the Rodes City Run 10K and the Papa John's 10 Miler.

The Triple Crown Race Committee decided to discontinue the series because of a steady decline in participation and sponsorship dollars amid rising operating costs, according to a news release. The committee worked with people and organizations to try to address these challenges before the 2020 season but was unable to reach a solution. The 2019 edition has already taken place.

The series benefited the WHAS Crusade for Children, and it has contributed more than $2 million to local charities.

Nearly 20,000 runners participated in at least one of the three races each year, and nearly 4,000 runners completed the annual series, according to the LTCOR website.

Aimee Boyd, vice president of communications for the Kentucky Derby Festival, said in an email: “The miniMarathon was part of the Triple Crown of Running in the early years. We appreciated the partnership and know it’s become a staple in Louisville. We hate to see that it’s going away. Because the running community is so supportive of the Derby Festival, we’d be open to conversations about creating a running series that feeds into the mini and Marathon.”

Hellen Obiri is having the season of her life and seemingly nothing will stop her attempt of lighting up the World in Doha

By all means, Hellen Obiri is having the season of her life and seemingly nothing will stop her attempt to etch her name amongst Kenya’s athletics folklore.

If her exploits on the track so far this year is anything to go by, she could break the ceiling when the 2019 IAAF World Athletic Championships get underway in Doha, Qatar on September 28.

The month of March was particularly monumental for her what with the World Cross Country triumph in Aarhus, Denmark which earned her a spot in the track greats, having emerged as the first female runner with senior crowns in the IAAF World outdoor (3,000m), World Indoor (5,000m) and World Cross Country Championships (10km).

She reckons it is the toughest win of her career having had to shake off an absorbing Aarhus terrain to reign supreme.

Given that the cross county victory was her debut; she observes that was the best highlight for the first half of the year.

“So far the year has been fantastic for me because I made my debut in World Cross Country and I won.

“That was a good start to form me. We are in the middle of the season and given that we have three months before the year ends, I’m   sure it will be my best,” She told Citizen Digital.

Her meteoric rise has seen her stage strong performances in both indoor and outdoor games and she is leaving nothing to chance in her preparations.

“We are working hard, my coach and my manager are working hard to make sure that everything I need is in place.

“The aim at the moment is to establish my weaknesses and also the areas I need to improve on so that I’m ready for the World Championships,” she added.

Canadian Sasha Gollish is set to race the TCS New York City Marathon this fall

Sasha Gollish will join defending champion Mary Keitany, 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden, 2019 Boston champion Worknesh Degefa, and half-marathon world record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei on the start line on Staten Island in November. 

Sinead Diver of Australia, 2019 Comrades Marathon champion Gerda Steyn of South Africa and Americans Sara Hall, Allie Kieffer, Lindsey Scherf and Kellyn Taylor round out the exceptionally deep field of women athletes racing New York this year.

On the men’s side, notable names include defending champion Lelisa Desisa, 2017 champion Geoffrey Kamworor, Somali-American Abdi Abdirahman, Ethiopians Shura Kitata and Tamirat Tola and American Jared Ward, who finished eighth at this year’s Boston Marathon.

Gollish had a long and successful career in track and cross-country, winning bronze in the 1,500m at the 2015 Pan Am Games before attempting her debut marathon attempt at Berlin last year. 

She was forced to drop out just after the 30K mark with severe cramping, but had a very successful comeback at Houston in January, finishing in 2:32 just behind fellow Canadian Malindi Elmore, who was also taking her first stab at the marathon distance.

Gollish, it should be pointed out, has the world championship standard in the marathon (2:37:00), and so far only Lyndsay Tessier has been named to Team Canada. Athletics Canada will announce the full team on August 26.

71-year old Jeannie Rice, Finishes Akron Half Marathon in Record Time for her age group clocking 1:37:07

The second race in the Akron Children's Hospital Akron Marathon Race Series included a record-setting performance. 

The Goodyear Half Marathon and 10K began at the normally closed-to-the-public Goodyear test track Saturday morning. When the course ended at Goodyear's Global Headquarters, 71-year old Jeannie Rice of Mentor unofficiallly broke the world record for her age group with a half-marathon time of 1:37:07. 

"And I see the times and I know I had it. I finish and I told a couple ladies who were there, ‘I did it! I made a world record!’ It was a great feeling."

Rice said she's been running for 35 years and has never been impeded by an injury. She's completed a number of races and will run in the full Akron marathon in September. She typically runs 15 miles a week but has upped that to 60 miles per week to prepare for the marathon. 

More than 2,500 athletes, both runners and walkers, participated in the event, which was sold out. Dylan Garritano from Akron and Emma McCarron from Mansfield were the respective winners in the men’s and women’s races, finishing at 1:10:20 and 1:23:12. The 10k titles were taken by Nathaniel Hunter Moore from Uniontown and Lydia Hochstein from Cleveland finishing in 33:14 and 39:13.

The Goodyear Half Marathon & 10k welcomed runners from 25 states, with ages 11 to 80 competing.

Katie Mackey, the only three-time winner in the race’s history, and Tripp Hurt, the reigning USA 1 Mile Road Champion, lead the fields for the 24th Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile

Katie Mackey, the only three-time winner in the race’s history, and Tripp Hurt, the reigning USA 1 Mile Road Champion, lead the fields for the 24th Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile on August 17, organizers announced today. The mile is part of the Falmouth Track Festival, held the evening before the New Balance Falmouth Road Race.

The Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 17, on the James T. Kalperis Track at Falmouth High School. Total prize purse for the men’s and women’s fields is $15,000, not including possible time bonuses, with the winners each taking home $3,500.

Beginning with the SBLI Family Fun Run and followed by the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile and the Tommy Cochary High School Mile, the track festival will be streamed live on the New Balance Falmouth Road Race Facebook page beginning at 4 p.m.

Mackey, 31, is the 2017 USA 1-Mile Road Champion, 2018 USATF Club Cross Country Champion, American record-holder in the 4x1500m relay, and was eighth at 3000 meters in the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Hurt, 26, was third at this year’s USATF Indoor Championships in the 2 Mile and is a two-time USATF Outdoor Championships steeplechase finalist.

Also among the headliners in the women’s race is Heather Kampf, a member of the same medal-winning relay team as Mackey and a four-time USA 1 Mile Road Champion. After three events, Kampf and Hurt lead the standings in the 2019 Bring Back the Mile Grand Prix Tour, on which the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile is the fourth stop.

Challenging Mackey and Kampf will be Cory McGee, who was fourth in the 2015 Pan American Games at 1500 meters and won the Sir Walter Miler on August 2 in 4:27.87; Stephanie Garcia, a two-time member of Team USA at the IAAF World Championships in the 3000-meter steeplechase (2011, 2015); Allie Buchalski, 2018 NCAA 5000-meter runner-up; Jessica Harris, third at 1500 meters in the 2019 NCAA Championships; Lianne Farber, a three-time All-American at the University of North Carolina who runs for Team New Balance Boston; Eleanor Fulton, a two-time member of Team USA for the mixed relay at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships (2017, 2019); Vanessa Fraser, fourth in the 2018 NCAA 5000 meters; Dana Giordano, third at 1500 meters in 2016 NCAA Championships, who competes on the B.A.A. High Performance Team and has a family home in Woods Hole; and Heather MacLean, a Massachusetts state champion out of Peabody High School and an All-American while at UMass-Amherst who just finished seventh at USATF Outdoor Nationals in a personal best 4:05.27.

For the men, Tripp will face Josh Thompson, third at 1500 meters at the 2019 USATF Outdoor Championships; Garrett Heath, two-time USA 1 Mile Road Champion (2013, 2015); Pat Casey, the 2018 NACAC silver medalist at 1500 meters; Patrick Joseph, a member of Virginia Tech’s 2018 NCAA Indoor Champion Distance Medley team and fourth in the mile; Daniel Herrera, Mexico’s national record-holder in the mile; Riley Masters, 2018 USA 1 Mile Road Champion; David Ribich, two-time NCAA Division II 1500-meter champion (2017, 2018); Mason Ferlic, 2016 NCAA Champion in the 3000-meter steeplechase; Craig Nowak, a two-time All-American while at Oklahoma State; and Garrett O’Toole, the 2018 Ivy League indoor mile champion who now competes for Arizona State.  

O’Toole, whose 4:01.89 mile while running for The Middlesex School was the fastest high school mile in the U.S. in 2014, won the Tommy Cochary High School Mile here in 2013, and still holds the meet record. At the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile, O’Toole will be attempting to break the 4-minute barrier for the first time.

The Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile, which began in 1995, has played host to more than two dozen Olympians, including Morgan Uceny, Amy Rudolph, Carmen Douma-Hussar, Carrie Tollefson, Suzy Hamilton, Donn Cabral, Marc Davis, Robert Gary, Jason Pyrah, 2012 Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano and two-time Olympic medalist Nick Willis of New Zealand. The event records are held by Hamilton (4:25.27, 2002) and Jordan McNamara (3:54.89, 2011).

Even Triple Bypass Surgery does not stop Boston Marathon Director Dave McGillivray from doing his annual birthday run

I have said My Game, My Rules about a million times over the years and today I put it to good use.  Even though my 65th birthday (a big one) is not until next week, my work schedule is so crazy that I decided to do my annual birthday run today.  

However, I changed the rules this time.  Given my triple bypass surgery only 10 months ago and given that I know I have not completely recovered or healed by any means and that I still really do need to be cautious, I decided that I would do a “duathlon” and run a marathon distance (26.2-miles) and then bike the remainder (39-miles) and so that is what I did.

I actually felt pretty good the entire day but I’ve only biked three times this year so that was a little ugly.  

Good friends Ron Kramer and Josh Nemzer were very kind and stopped by to do some of it with me.  On the one hand, I feel a little disappointed I couldn’t run the entire 65-miles as I have run my birthday run since I was 12-years-old but on the other hand putting it all in perspective,

I just have to feel fortunate I was able to do this.  I’ve always said I was a marathoner so my new goal will be to run a marathon on my birthday run for as long as I possibly can and finish up the rest by bike.  I think that is a more sane goal going forward...don’t you agree? 

Of course, never say never!!  And by the way, I just can’t believe I am 65-years-old now...how did that happen?

(Dave McGillivray is the director of the Boston Marathon and several other races including the upcoming Falmouth Road Race happening Sunday.)

The side effects of doping are bad and it is just not worth doing it in the first place

At first, the Kenyan marathoner felt invincible. Racing out beyond the pack, his energy levels buoyed by blood doping, nothing seemed to stand in the way of victory.

"At 35 kilometres, I started getting cramps," the athlete told AFP on condition of anonymity, recalling the 2012 race in Europe where his health starting failing.

"I then started limping from 36-37 kilometres until I crossed the finish line."

Remarkably, he still finished second and recorded a personal best, returning home from the European race with a silver medal and a tidy pot of prize money.

Elated at the result, and unaware of the health risks associated with erythropoietin (EPO) abuse, the 35-year-old started doping again.

The pain came roaring back, worse than before. EPO boosts the capacity of blood to carry oxygen to the muscles but its misuse can cause a host of serious complications.

"I feel pain in my chest, my muscles are sore and I cough a lot," he said, describing common side effects of EPO, a peptide hormone banned by the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) since the early 1990s.

By 2016, he was forced off the track into early retirement, and has not run since.

"All I knew, was that once you dope, you end up running well. I never knew there would be such problems," he said.

Kenya barely survived a string of high-profile doping scandals in 2016 that almost saw the African nation celebrated for its distance runners barred from the Rio Olympics.

Since then, Kenya has increased its testing of athletes 10-fold through a new anti-doping authority and tough new laws also threaten users and their dealers with criminal sanctions.

But EPO use has not been stamped out, say Kenyan athletes, suppliers of the substance and anti-doping officials.

There are thousands of professional runners registered with Kenya's athletic federation, but only a handful of elite competitors are regularly screened by the national doping watchdog ADAK.

The lure to rise above the pack is strong.

"When life becomes difficult, you look for an option to make ends meet," said the former Kenyan athlete, who has struggled to make a living after his health deterioration from EPO abuse.

"I was told if I used it, I'd run much better. But now I have missed out on everything."

The Anti-Doping Agency in Kenya (ADAK) has run awareness campaigns under its slogan "Stay Clean, Win Right", trying to educate athletes on the harms of abusing performance enhancing drugs.

"They try, but it's not enough. Not everyone on the field has received the information," the athlete told AFP.

He said athletes themselves needed to spread the word about the dangers of doping.

"I would encourage them not to dope, because even if they made money... they could also damage their bodies."

Alasdair Mcilroy will be taking part in his first half marathon dedicating every step to his best friend who died from cancer last year

Alasdair Mcilroy is taking on the Scottish Half Marathon in Edinburgh next month in aid of Cancer Research UK and in memory of pal Des Devine who died aged just 54 last October.

The pair were firm friends for decades sharing a love for sports including golf, rugby, rallying, cricket and football.

They were both members of Hawick Opera Company and when Des married his wife Sasha at Heiton’s Roxburghe Hotel in 2008, Alasdair was best man.

“Des had an immeasurable impact on so many lives including my own and I was honored to be his best man on his wedding day,” Alasdair, 47, said.

“His zest for life was all too obvious with every single thing he did. He loved sport and socializing.

“He took challenges on with positivity and as long as people continue to remember him, speak of him and love him then Des will never truly be gone. His battle with cancer was faced up to with great dignity.

“Through his fight, he was still more interested in everyone else’s life and plans.

“The finish line of the Scottish half marathon will be an emotional moment of personal reflection and I’ll dedicate my efforts to Des.”

Des, who moved from the Borders to Inverness in 2004, was diagnosed with bowel and liver cancer in October 2013, five weeks before his 50th birthday. After two major operations and chemotherapy he was well enough to return to his love for sport, traveling, music and drama by summer 2014.

A talented musician, he was a singer with the Rooty Ma Toot Big Band and also a keen member of the Inverness Musical Theater company and the Florians drama club.

But last year cancer spread to his bones and he died at the Highland Hospice, Inverness with his wife Sasha by his side.

Kilian Jornet of Spain and Switzerland's Maude Mathys smashed the respective course records at the Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland, the fifth race in the 2019 World Mountain Running Association on Sunday

Jornet clocked 2:25:35 over the 31km course to break the 2:29:12 record set by Jonathan Wyatt in 2003. Mathys was even more dominant, clocking 2:49:20 to clip more than five minutes from the previous mark of 2:54:26 set by Czech Anna Pichrtova in 2008. 

The iconic race, which starts in the Valais town of Sierre and climbs to the village of Zinal, has a total ascent of 2200m and 1100m of descent and features a course offering views of five of the area’s 4000-meter peaks, lending it the nickname, the "Five 4000s Race”.

Jornet broke away early, soon after leaving Sierre and had built a two minute advantage over 2016 winner Petro Mamu by the Ponchette checkpoint seven kilometres into the race. Between the Chandolin and Hotel Weisshorn checkpoints, Jornet eased the pace, allowing Mamu to reduce the gap to 1:27.

From Weisshorn, at 2337m the course's highest point, the race once again picked up steam. The key for Jornet was his powerful performance on the uphill sections, normally the weaker part of his race. While Mamu continued to chip away at the lead, Jornet held on, beating the Eritrean by 42 seconds to take his seventh victory at the event. Mamu clocked 2:26:17, also well inside the previous record.

Jim Walmsley of the US, who last May clocked a world best over 50 miles (80.46km), rounded out the podium in 2:31:52, a solid performance in his European trail and mountain running debut. Juan Carlos Carrera of Mexico and Robbie Simpson of Great Britain completed the top five, clocking 2:32:52 and 2:33:55, respectively.

Briton Andrew Douglas finished sixth to solidify his lead in the WMRA World Cup standings. With 450 points, the Briton has pieced together an unassailable lead with two races remaining in the series.

Mathys, who raced to the European title last year, dominated the women's contest, padding her lead with each passing kilometre before beating compatriot Judith Wyder by exactly five minutes. Wyder's 2:54:20 was also faster than the previous course record.

Italy's Silvia Rampazzo was third in 2:56:17 to finish off the podium. New Zealander Ruth Croft edged Anais Sabrie of France for fourth by just two seconds in 3:01:56. 

Irishwoman Sarah McCormack finished 12th to up her point tally in the World Cup standings to 305. Injury forced Kenyan Lucy Wambui, one of the pre-race favorites, out early on, solidifying McCormack's chances for her overall World Cup title bid.

The WMRA World Cup resumes on 14 September at the Drei Zinnen in Sexten, in the heart of Italy's Dolomites before its traditional conclusion at the Smarna Gora race just outside the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on 12 October.

Scotland’s marathon record holder Callum Hawkins is turning up the heat in preparation for Doha

Callum Hawkins hopes that subjecting himself to heat chamber therapy, twilight training and running at altitude will set him up to win a medal at this autumn’s IAAF World Athletics Championships.

Hawkins is selected to represent Britain in the marathon in Doha, where the temperatures can hit 35 degrees in late September and early October, when the championships are being held.

The potential heat and humidity has prompted race organisers to choose a start time of one minute before midnight for the men’s marathon on 5 October, and Hawkins has decided to adjust his usual build up for major races to try to acclimatise to the challenging conditions and unconventional start time in the Qatar capital.

Hawkins, who was admitted to hospital after collapsing in unbearably warm conditions during the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Australia last year, has already been running in the University of the West of Scotland’s environmental chamber to build resistance to the hot conditions.

Speaking after winning Bella-houston Harriers’ Brian Goodwin Memorial 10k in Glasgow on Friday night, the Kilbarchan AAC athlete said he was determined to “get the monkey off my back” in the next major championships.

“The fact it is a night time race in Doha makes it more favorable,” Hawkins said. “The sun is the worst thing, so taking that factor out should take away a bit of the harshness of the heat.”

Marathon-specific training tailored towards Doha is still around six weeks away for Hawkins, but preparation  is set to ramp up shortly.

On July 3, Hawkins will commence altitude training in Flagstaff, Arizona, before he flies to Majorca for further warm weather training. Under the guidance of coach and father Robert, Hawkins will punctuate his schedule with the Beach to Beacon 10k in Maine in early August, and a half marathon in early September – likely the Great North Run – on the agenda.

A further trip to Dubai to join the other British athletes selected for Doha in a pre-championships training camp has also been built into Hawkins’ schedule, and it is during these final couple of weeks of training that he will begin to adjust his body clock.

Eamonn Gribben the founder of a South Tyneside nursery is taking part in the Great North Run, to raise money for children under his care with life-limiting conditions

Eamonn Gribben, 59, is director of the Early Learning Partnership, which runs nurseries throughout South Tyneside. For his third half marathon, he has chosen four special children to raise funds for, all of whom attend a different nursery in the borough.

Eamonn is hoping to raise £4,000 - £1,000 each - for the children and their families, in the hopes of making a positive impact on their lives and providing them with support for their future.

“In my 20 years at the nurseries, I’ve seen a lot of suffering and I just wanted to do something positive,” said Eamonn, who lives in The Nook, South Shields.

“As a nursery we’re trying to do as much as we can and I wanted to physically do something to raise money and awareness, supporting children who all have unique disabilities and needs.”

He added: “We know the parents, so we understand the needs of the child, so I wanted to give the money directly to the parents and the children.”

Eamonn will be joined on the day by Lee Sinclair, dad to four-year-old Carter, who suffers from spina bifida and previously attended Harton Village Kindergarten. Last year Eamonn raised more than £1,000 for the youngster.

“As I ran it for Carter last year I wanted other children to get a chance,” he explained.

“The families have been overwhelmed that we would want to raise money for them.”

Runners need to eat wisely to run well and to stay healthy

As a runner, you have two jobs. One is to eat wisely to run well. The other is to stay healthy. That includes sleeping well, eating well, and living well.  Wellness was the theme of the 35th Annual Symposium for the more than 7,000 sports dietitians who are members of SCAN, the Sports and Cardiovascular Nutrition dietary practice group (SCANdpg.org) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Here are some highlights that offer food for thought and tips for health:

• Health claims made about coconut oil are misleading. They were created by marketing gurus using research based on medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, not coconut oil. Coconut oil does contain MCTs, but primarily lauric acid, a MCT that behaves like a long chain saturated fat in terms of digestion and metabolism. Lauric acid raises bad (LDL) cholesterol, inflammation, coagulation and insulin resistance (1).

One tablespoon of coconut oil has 13.5 grams saturated fat. Given the American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat intake to less than 7% of total calories, that’s only 15.5 grams a day per 2,000 calories. Runners with high LDL would be wise to use coconut oil only sparingly.

• Does drinking 1 to 2 glasses of wine a day offer positive health benefits? Perhaps not, given there are 25 alcohol-related diseases, to say nothing of links between alcohol and certain cancers, CVD, intestinal issues, injuries from accidents, and suicide. Unless you are among the estimated 35% of Americans who abstain from alcohol, the least harmful way to drink is to limit alcohol to one to two drinks only three to four times a week (not daily). And be sure that one drink is actually just one standard drink (6 oz wine, 12 oz beer, 1.5 oz spirits)—and not the “bartender’s special.”

• Lutein (in egg yolk, spinach, avocado, dark green, and yellow and orange foods) is important for eye health; it curbs age-related macular degeneration. Lutein is also good for your brain and is associated with a reduced risk for dementia. Adults with normal brain function have three times more lutein in their brain than those with cognitive impairment. Enjoy lots of colorful fruits and veggies to consume the recommended lutein intake.

• Knowledge is necessary, but not sufficient, for runners to make sustained lifestyle changes that improve their health. We change our behaviors based on our values. For example, vegetarians generally express concern about the environment and animal welfare. In light of environmental concerns, seems like we need public health campaigns that focus on values, so that more people will eat less meat, waste less food, and choose fewer snacks in single-serve plastic containers.

• Runners can easily lose sleep by going to bed too late, drinking too much coffee, having sleep apnea, and needing to urinate during the night. Sleep loss is associated with accidents, metabolic disorders, weight gain, and hunger (due to increases in the hunger-hormone grehlin). Exercise does not protect against the harmful effects of sleep deprivation. Routinely dragging yourself out of bed in the morning to run might not be a wise plan. Seven hours of sleep a night are recommended to avoid sleep deprivation.

There are times when running indoor on a treadmill might be the best solution

Summertime might make living easier. But running? Not so much. With record-high temperatures and humidity reaching 90 percent, chasing miles on the treadmill makes for a much better, less insanely sweaty run than the open road. Of course, getting outside for sunshine and fresh air provides its mental and physical benefits, but sometimes it really is better to find your stride on a machine.

Here, some of the benefits of running on a treadmill vs. outside, and six scenarios that say, "hey, let's stay inside and cruise through some distance in the comfort of AC and the predictability of tread terrain."

1. When simply standing on a street corner makes you sweat.

Check the weather before you even leave the house, says David Siik, co-founder and creative director at Precision Run. He suggests only attempting short runs on those 80- and 90-degree days when the humidity hits 40 percent or higher. "Heat indexes of 95 degrees or higher is my recommended breaking point—just don't do it, it's not worth it," he says. "If you do head out and within 10 minutes you feel like you are working harder than usual, feel heavy, or start to feel a little cold and clammy, get back inside.”

Marni Wasserman, a coach at Mile High Run Club, recommends checking the dew point, which considers both heat and humidity. When the dew point hits 70 or 80 degrees, you probably want to turn to the tread. 

2. When you're making your comeback post-injury.

One of the major benefits of running on a treadmill is that it's a softer surface and therefore less force on your joints. While running on trails or a track offer more give than pavement, many manufacturers design treadmills to specifically absorb the shock of each step. 

Running on a treadmill also means you don't have to worry about moving laterally to dodge sticks, trees, cars, or people, says Siik. 

3. When you need more motivation to speed through intervals.

It's easy to slow down on the open road during running interval workouts, even when you're trying to get in some sprint drills and all-out efforts because you don't have someone (or something) forcing you to move faster. The treadmill, on the other hand, requires you to go hard to keep up with the belt. "The treadmill is painfully honest. It cannot lie to you," says Siik. "If you put in 10 mph, the treadmill will hold you accountable to that speed unless you change it or step off. That freedom from the ability to cheat is a wonderful accountability tool."

Another benefit of running on the treadmill is that you can make micro-adjustments to your run that gets you to push harder without making it crazy dramatic—say adding 0.1 percent incline or 0.1 mph. "This creates a type of engagement that makes the run so much more fun and dynamic," says Siik. 

4. When you don't have hills in your 'hood.

If you live in a mostly flat area, but you've signed up for a race with steep incline climbs, then you'll want to become BFFs with the treadmill. "If you have access to the course elevation profile, you can try to mimic it on the tread to make long runs more interesting. Or, if you take the inclines faster, you can get a feel for the climbs at race pace," says Wasserman.

She recommends doing rolling hills at 3 to 6 percent incline when you don't have the course to copy. "You can also play around with hill sprints to build leg strength, improve form, and boost power—they're really tough and will make you feel like you're flying once you drop the hill," she says. Not to mention, it's a lot easier than finding the perfect hill to do sprint repeats IRL.

5. When you want to protect your skin.

Crushing runs outside multiple days a week means the sun continuously beats down on you, especially if you forget sweat-proof sunscreen before you head out the door. So you might want to go inside occasionally just to keep your skin under cover, says Siik. 

”Although you should enjoy running outdoors, if you supplement the 'harsh' days (heavy exposed sun and high heat or cold, windy, slippery weather) you lift the burden and fatigue on not only your body but your skin," he says. "Imagine spending 40 percent less of your life being destroyed by the sun or chapped from the wind but keeping up the same level of fitness and cardiovascular health—win, win!"

Aspen Olympic skier Noah Hoffman wins Backcountry Marathon

His professional skiing career behind him, Noah Hoffman has dialed back the training, only doing enough to take part in “adventures” in between going to classes at Brown University in Rhode Island.

Yet, the natural athleticism that led him to a pair of Olympic Games doesn’t disappear overnight, nor does the knowledge that comes with years of racing at the highest level.

“I had no idea what my fitness was going to be like,” Hoffman said. “Knowing how to race is a huge thing, and I have so much experience racing that absolutely that’s a huge advantage. I was a little nervous at the start, but once I got out there I was, ‘Oh, I’ve done this hundreds of times.’ I know what racing is like.”

Hoffman traded in the snow for the dirt on Saturday, returning to his home to take part in the ninth annual Aspen Backcountry Marathon for the first time. Looking every bit like a professional athlete, Hoffman won the race in 3 hours, 30 minutes, 2.18 seconds, beating Gunnison’s Joshua Eberly by about eight minutes and third-place finisher Chris Copenhaver of Fort Collins by 15 minutes.

Eberly won the Aspen Backcountry Marathon in 2018 and won the Audi Power of Four 50-kilometer trail race only a month ago in Snowmass, so Hoffman’s victory was certainly earned.

“I’ve always wanted to do this race, but it never quite fit into my training schedule when I was an athlete. So this was the summer to come back and do it, finally check it out,” Hoffman said. “I was a little nervous about the distance, for sure. I’ve never raced anywhere near this far. My longest races in skiing were two hours, plus or minus, and this is three and a half. So it’s a big jump.”

While it’s been some time, Hoffman isn’t exactly new to running. As a senior at Aspen High School, he won the Class 3A state cross country championship in 2006 before embarking on a successful cross-country skiing career that included competing in both the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. Hoffman retired from skiing following the 2017-18 season and the Pyeongchang Games.

“I almost walked away that year before Pyeongchang and I’m so glad I went to one more Olympics and skied that last year,” Hoffman said. “But I really feel I’m at peace with the decision (to retire). I didn’t really miss it that much. I was excited to cheer on my teammates from afar.”

The women’s race unfolded this way. 

Kelsey Persyn’s first significant win as a trail runner came when she torched the field by more than 40 minutes in the 2018 Aspen Backcountry Marathon. Her margin of victory was a mere nine minutes on Saturday, but it’s still a repeat title for the 23-year-old Texas native.

“I felt a little pressure going into it,” Persyn said of being the defending champ. “This is like my third trail race ever and I love them, so I’m hoping to go down that path eventually and see how far I can go.”

Persyn won the women’s marathon in 4:17:52.86, holding off Aspen’s Julia Rowland (4:26) and Boulder’s Anna Widdowson (4:30) for the title.

A former track and cross country runner at Texas A&M, Persyn has spent the past couple of summers working as a park ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park. Her ties to the Aspen area go back a few years, as she also won the 2016 Aspen Valley Marathon road race.

Persyn said she was using the Aspen Backcountry Marathon as training for the upcoming Grand Traverse trail run, which goes from Crested Butte to Aspen.

“It felt really good. I didn’t have hope that I was going to be the winner until a mile ‘til,” she said. “I made sure my focus was just to focus on yourself and have fun with it. Results are going to come if you just have fun. But it was a different course this year. It was more in reverse, so it was kind of cool to see it from a different angle.”

Everything to know about Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

It's coming. 2020 is an Olympic year, with the Games of the XXXII Olympiad taking place in Tokyo. It's time to brush up on your discus technique, become an expert on pictograms and know your pentathlon from your decathlon. 

I fell in love with the Olympics in 1992, seeing divers tumble off the high board in front of the spectacular backdrop of Barcelona. When the Games came to my city, London, in 2012, it was one of the best times of my entire life. It's a month-long celebration of strength, agility, speed and fortitude, unimaginable feats of human athletic achievement, spirit and commitment. And then it happens all over again with the Paralympics! Except the athletes are even more inspiring. What a time to be alive. 

So start planning your medals parties, order a new national flag and book some vacation for when the diving's on. (Just me? OK.) Here's everything you need to know.

2020 Olympics dates and schedule.. It's less than a year away! The opening ceremony will be on Friday, July 24, and the closing ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020. The Paralympics run from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6.

Where are the 2020 Olympics?.- The games will take place in more than 40 venues in and around Tokyo, with some soccer matches taking place farther afield. Japan last hosted the Summer Games in 1964, which was the first in Asia; the Winter Olympics were there in 1972 and 1998.

2020 Olympics tickets.- Tickets, predictably, have sold out, at least for now. New tranches of tickets will be released in spring. 

Watch the Olympics on TV.- The Olympics is back on NBC, with a 24/7 stream online if you verify you're a cable subscriber. NBCSports Gold will have a dedicated Olympics package -- pay an upfront fee and you'll be able to watch anywhere, uninterrupted by ads. 

Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of the West Coast, so watching live should get a good spread of events. (Note the women's soccer final kicks off at 7 p.m. PT on Aug. 6.) It's a little trickier on the East Coast, where you may have to rely on highlights.

The BBC will cover the games on TV, radio and online in the UK, with more on Eurosport, a pay-TV channel. The time difference there is 8 hours, so you'll have to get up very early in the morning to watch live.

In Australia, the Seven Network will spread free-to-air coverage over Channel Seven, 7Mate and 7Two. It's a good year for watching Down Under, with Sydney only an hour ahead of Tokyo.

What events are new?.- Missing in London and Rio, men's baseball and women's softball are back due to their huge popularity in Japan. Five nations will join the hosts in contesting for gold on the diamond. (Just don't ask me to explain how they qualify.) Karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding are also new, in a "How do you do, fellow kids?" move by the IOC. In the same vein, basketball adds a three-on-three tournament for eight nations. Rugby sevens, a variant that features seven players on each side, and golf return after debuting in Rio.

Skyrace apologizes for men-only prizes at the Dolomyths Skyrace in Canazei Italy

There was some controversy at the Dolomyths Skyrace in Canazei, Italy last weekend. The Salomon Golden Trail Series event is a 22K race gaining 1,700 metres in elevation, and course records were broken in both the men and women’s races. Davide Magnini of Italy won in 2:00:28, while Judith Wyder of Switzerland won her first Skyrace in 2:18:51.

When the race organizers highlighted the elite men in the Vertical Kilometre presentation as well as a surprise bonus for breaking the two-hour barrier at the awards ceremony but did not offer a similar bonus for the women, trail running athletes shared their concerns.

Second-place finisher Ruth Croft of New Zealand expressed her disappointment at the unequal representation at the awards ceremony, describing it as “a reoccurring topic in our sport.” The Dolomyths Skyrace claims to treat men and women equally in their races, and apologized after the fact, explaining their decisions. That there was a presentation for the men’s Vertical Kilometre race and not the women’s was due to a limited number of registered runners and availability of athletes, they said.

The Dolomyths organizers also explained the two-hour barrier men’s prizing was a last-minute decision, and one they acknowledge and regret. In response to the controversy, race organizers have decided to have a time barrier for the women’s race in the future. In their apology, the organizers requested that those affected by the decisions investigate further before judging.

Athletes present at the Dolomyths Skyrace were not the only ones sharing concern about the discrepancy.  Trail runner Sandi Nypaver commented on the organizers’ apology, writing, “As a high-level race, they need to set the example and not make last-minute decisions that are poorly thought through.

They could have been very clear beforehand that women were not available for the presentation or delayed the presentation until more women arrived. Of course people will make assumptions when things are not publicly stated. With that said, I greatly applaud the race for admitting mistakes were made and making sure they don’t happen again.”

After initially sharing concerns, Western States 2019 winner Clare Gallagher commented her relief at the formal apology made by Dolomyths Skyrace, writing, “So glad to read this. A great example for other races that might also have made honest mistakes in not having equal prizes, representation, bonuses, or other areas where women haven’t been treated equally. We can have productive discussions and create solutions!”

Alex Petrosky of Edmonton wins ultramarathon race after nearly 13 hours of running

While most of us spent our August long weekend relaxing, other Canadians gathered in the Rocky Mountains to push their bodies to the ultimate test.

The Canadian Death Race is a strenuous 125-kilometer course divided into five legs that starts and finishes on a 4,200-foot plateau, passes over multiple mountain summits and a major river crossing at Hell’s Gate Canyon at the junction of the Smoky and Sulphur rivers.

Alex Petrosky of Edmonton walked away as the race winner on Sunday, finishing with a time of 12 hours and 47 minutes.

“I was trying to be strategic. Picking my point when I’d separate from the field and not push too early. I’ve had an issue with that before. I take the approach that if you’re not running fast, you’re not trying.”

He laughed as he explained that this time he “relaxed for the first 50 kilometers” of this race.

Petrosky hit his stride despite battling the elements of a rain-soaked course.

“This weekend was very painful. You’ve got wet mud, clay sticking to your feet. Some pretty rough bush. You’ve got scrapes cause you’re falling all over the place,” Petrosky said. “It was wet and muddy, but from a temperature standpoint, it was nice and cool. When it’s 25 degrees or higher, it really hurts the body. You can’t push as hard as you’d like to. It adds another variable to the race. I didn’t have that issue on Saturday.”

He acknowledged the event isn’t everyone’s ideal long weekend.

“It doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. I totally understand that. I don’t expect people to always understand where the passion comes from. But, if you’re having a good day out there. It’s pretty awesome.”

He said his last mountain climb put him into a meditative state, where he found his rhythm — despite bad conditions.

“It was like a river flowing down past your feet. It was pouring rain at the time. It was gushing down. The trail was the drainage route for the mountain,” Petrosky said. “I’ve done 30 of these runs, sometimes 16, 17 or 20 hours long… the farther in you get, the closer you are to failure in your body.”

“I didn’t feel ready to be on a start line until two days before the Canadian Death Race, I’ve learned the body has a way and the mind has a way of getting you ready for anything.”

Why Drinking Water All Day Long Is Not the Best Way to Stay Hydrated

Dehydration is a drag on human performance. It can cause fatigue and sap endurance among athletes, according to a 2018 study in the journal Frontiers in Physiology. Even mild dehydration can interfere with a person’s mood or ability to concentrate.

Water is cheap and healthy. And drinking H2O is an effective way for most people to stay hydrated. The National Academy of Medicine recommends that adult women and men drink at least 91 and 125 ounces of water a day, respectively. (For context, one gallon is 128 fluid ounces.) But pounding large quantities of water morning, noon and night may not be the best or most efficient way to meet the body’s hydration requirements.

“If you’re drinking water and then, within two hours, your urine output is really high and [your urine] is clear, that means the water is not staying in well,” says David Nieman, a professor of public health at Appalachian State University and director of the Human Performance Lab at the North Carolina Research Campus. Nieman says plain water has a tendency to slip right through the human digestive system when not accompanied by food or nutrients. This is especially true when people drink large volumes of water on an empty stomach. “There’s no virtue to that kind of consumption,” he says.

In fact, clear urine is a sign of “overhydration,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. And some of the latest research supports Nieman’s claim that guzzling lots of water is not the best way to stay hydrated.

For a 2015 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers compared the short-term hydration effects of more than a dozen different beverages—everything from plain water and sports drinks to milk, tea, and beer, to a specially formulated “rehydration solution.” Based on urine analyses collected from the study volunteers, the researchers concluded that several drinks—including milk, tea, and orange juice, but not sports drinks—were more hydrating than plain water. (Lager was a little less hydrating than water, but a little better than coffee.)

Of course, no one’s suggesting that people dump water in favor of milk and OJ. Water is still hydrating. So are sports drinks, beer, and even coffee, to some extent. But the authors of the 2015 study wrote that there are several “elements of a beverage” that affect how much H2O the body retains. These include a drink’s nutrient content, as well as the presence of “diuretic agents,” which increase the amount of urine a person produces. Ingesting water along with amino acids, fats and minerals seems to help the body take up and retain more H2O—and therefore maintain better levels of hydration—which is especially important following exercise and periods of heavy perspiration.

“People who are drinking bottles and bottles of water in between meals and with no food, they’re probably just peeing most of that out,” Nieman says. Also, the popular idea that constant and heavy water consumption “flushes” the body of toxins or unwanted material is a half-truth. While urine does transport chemical byproducts and waste out of the body, drinking lots of water on an empty stomach doesn’t improve this cleansing process, he says.

In some rare cases, excessive water consumption can even be harmful. “In athletes or people who are exercising for hours, if they’re only drinking water, they can throw out too much sodium in their urine, which leads to an imbalance in the body’s sodium levels,” explains Nieman, who has spent a chunk of his career investigating exercise-related hydration. Doctors call this imbalance “hyponatremia,” and in some cases it can be deadly. In this scenario, sports drinks and other beverages that contain nutrients and sodium are safer than plain water.

While hyponatremia and excessive water consumption aren’t big concerns for non-athletes, there are better ways to keep the body and brain hydrated than to pound water all day long. Sipping water (or any other beverage) a little bit at a time prevents the kidneys from being “overloaded,” and so helps the body retain more H2O, Nieman says.

Drinking water before or during a meal or snack is another good way to hydrate. “Drinking water with amino acids or fats or vitamins or minerals helps the body take up more of the water, which is why beverages like milk and fruit juice tend to look pretty good in these hydration studies,” he says. Some of his own research has found that eating a banana is better than drinking a sports beverage when it comes to post-exercise recovery. And he says eating almost any piece of fruit along with some water is going to aid the body’s ability to take up that H2O and rehydrate.

Kenya's Bedan Karoki and Stephen Kiprop will skip the World Championships to focus on road races

Kiprop illustrated fine form in 2018, winning three half-marathon races in the Netherlands and Czech Republic, and finishing fifth in Valencia clocking 59:21.

Winning the 2019 Ras Al Khaimah half marathon clocking 58 minutes and 42 seconds, fastest in the world this year, he is joint sixth on the world all-time list in February.

Now the 19-year-old will give the World Championships a bye to compete at the Valencia half marathon on October 27 in Spain.

The other elite runner Karoki, the silver medalist from Tokyo Marathon, told Xinhua from Nyahururu on Friday that he will instead compete at the half marathon in Argentina.

"I have committed myself to run a half marathon in Argentina and I have to honor it," Karoki said.

"I have had my chance with the Kenya team and the World Championships in Doha will not be on my schedule this time round," he said.

Kenya has failed to win a gold medal in the 10,000m race at the World Championships since Charles Kamathi won in Edmonton, Canada back in 2001.

Karoki, a silver medalist at the 2016 World Half Marathon and 2015 World Cross Country, said he is building up for Chicago marathon by running half marathons. He is also eyeing a slot in Kenya's marathon team for next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Tracy Guerrette, will continue her quest for an Olympic Trials berth while pursuing theology degree

Tracy Guerrette, finally recovered from a fractured bone in her foot, continues her quest to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials scheduled for Feb. 29, 2020, in Atlanta.

But the St. Agatha native won’t be training in the streets of Bangor much longer.

The former two-year basketball captain at the University of Maine is leaving her job as the director of faith formation at St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Bangor. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

“It is something I have been thinking about for a real long time, since my early 20s actually, but I never had a chance to do it,” the 38-year-old Guerrette said. “In the past couple of years, I’ve been considering it more seriously. I’d been praying about it and thought it was a good time to apply.”

She said she was accepted to a couple of schools and chose the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. She is enrolled in a two-year program.

“I feel like I needed to take a step back. It’s almost like a professional sabbatical. I want to study to better myself in my faith,” Guerrette said.

She feels it will help her better serve the Lord and the Catholic Church. It will also give her a variety of career options after she completes her degree.

“I could continue to go to school, I could come back and work for a parish or a diocese or I could teach,” Guerrette said.

“My most prized possessions besides my running shoes are my theology books. But I haven’t had time to read them all because of my work, which is also a blessing,” Guerrette said.

Her degree study will focus on society and the current culture, and she said it will help prepare her to make a difference in people’s lives.

Kellyn Taylor will join to Top U.S. Women field at the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon

When Kellyn Taylor was plotting the lead up to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, she had already checked “run a fast marathon time” off her to-do list, by way of the 2:24:28 she clocked at the 2018 Grandma’s Marathon. What else did she want to accomplish before the big show?

“I’ve done New York City once and it was my highest placing [in a major marathon] ever,” Taylor said, during a phone interview with Women’s Running. “It was my favorite marathon to date. For me, it’s more about not feeling stagnant before the Trials—I perform best when I come off a big buildup.”

The tactical nature of the New York City Marathon, combined with the hillier terrain of the course will serve as good practice for the Trials course that she’ll run on February 29, in Atlanta. And the competition she’ll face? On the American side, it will also look familiar, joined by a stellar international presence as well.

New York City Marathon officials announced the full professional field on Tuesday, and it includes Mary Keitany of Kenya, the defending champion who has won the race four times already. It also includes Ruti Aga of Ethiopia with a 2:18:34 personal best, and Worknesh Degefa, also of Ethiopia, who has a 2:17:41 best and won the 2019 Boston Marathon. Joyciline Jepkosgei, the world record holder in the half marathon (1:04:51) from Kenya is also slated to compete.

Taylor will face off with a number of U.S. women who she’ll compete with in February at the Trials, where the top three finishers will earn a place on the 2020 Olympic team. Desiree Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon champion and two-time Olympian, will race, as well as Sara Hall, who has a 2:26:20 best. Allie Kieffer (2:28:12) is scheduled to return to racing, too, after tending to injuries over the past year, along with Diane Nukuri.

When Taylor ran the 2017 New York City Marathon, she placed eighth in 2:29:56. She came away with a few key lessons she’ll try to remember on November 3.

“Having faith in your abilities is the biggest thing. The last time, I didn’t make the first big move that everybody else made and found myself separated from the pack,” she said. “I ran the fastest mile of anybody in that race when I caught back up to them, so I need to put myself in it. That’s when the magic happens.”

Taylor is coming off a third-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the U.S.A. Track & Field Outdoor Championships, which is her best finish at a national track championships. It leaves her with another notch of confidence heading into 2020.

Tyler Diniz is running the Falmouth Road Race on behalf of Jett Foundation, a nonprofit fighting Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Funds raised by each racer on Jett Foundation’s Go! for Duchenne team support their many programs including Camp Promise, a free week of summer camp at three locations across the country for kids and young adults with select neuromuscular disorders like DMD, SMA, Becker, and more; Jett Giving Fund, a matching gift program to help families impacted by DMD purchase vital accessibility equipment like accessible vans, stairlifts and more.

Ready. Set. Jett. Family Workshops, a national educational workshop series for families to learn about DMD care, resources and treatments from local clinicians, experts and industry partners; and National Community Ambassador program, an opportunity for parents, friends and family members of individuals impacted by Duchenne to share resources and educate within the community. Ambassadors also facilitate local support groups and events for parents and families.

“As someone who has always been passionate about athletics and sports, I am running this August for those who can’t,” said Diniz.

“I am inspired by the many programs Jett Foundation offers, but most especially by their programs that give families access to safe, accessible sporting and physical activities like Camp Promise, Jett Giving Fund, educational workshops and more.”

To support awareness and fundraising efforts, Diniz and his family are hosting a beer tasting and cornhole tournament, with proceeds being donated to Jett Foundation.

Sara Hall will be running the Berlin Marathon, New York Marathon and then the Olympic Trials Marathon

Sara Hall’s road to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will be a bit more unconventional than most hopefuls training for next summer’s team racing in Tokyo. The 36-year-old California native is running the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 29 and then doubling back 35 days later to race the TCS New York City Marathon on Nov. 3. Then, the Olympics trials in Atlanta are only 118 days after that.

“I think I need the confidence from running fast in Berlin and having some more experience competing over a hilly second half like in New York," Hall says. "It’s fun to see how fast I can run and I haven’t been able to do that for a while. I’m also going to get the chance to race a marathon in the U.S. and in one of the greatest stages of our sport."

Hall is no stranger to racing very soon after completing a marathon. In 2017, she won the U.S. Marathon Championships, which were held in conjunction with the California International Marathon, just 35 days after taking fifth at the Frankfurt Marathon.

This year, she raced the Boston Marathon and finished 15th overall (6th American) in 2:35:34 on a six-week build-up, after a peroneal tendons flare-up put her on crutches and then a stress fracture sidelined her from running for seven weeks. But less than three weeks after that, she competed at the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in Pittsburgh and took second overall. Despite some initial fatigue immediately after the race, Hall finds it easier to keep racing after a marathon than during a buildup.

The marathon is harder than anything Hall does while training in Flagstaff but not exponentially as tough.

“I run two and a half hours basically as hard as I can every week when I’m marathon training,” Hall says. “I’ve actually run a 2:31 marathon in trainers while in training. It’s business as usual for my body. It’s maybe not as much of a shock to my body as people think.”

Before finalizing her fall racing plans, she consulted with her husband and coach, Ryan, who many remember for his own unorthodox training that helped him run a 2:04 marathon in Boston in 2011. He says he would have never ran two marathons this close in proximity but he was a different athlete, who mainly stayed at altitude to train for longer periods of time before racing sparingly.

They don’t see it as too much of a risk with the Olympic Trials looming, because a flat marathon may not take as much out of Hall. When she ran her personal best of 2:26:20 at the Ottawa Marathon in 2018, she worked out twice the following week. She did the same after running a personal best of 69:27 at the Gold Coast Half Marathon in July 2018.

“I think recovery is one of my strengths,” Hall says. “I see both of these races as building toward the trials. I don’t see a risk in running a marathon for myself.”

Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton and indoor pentathlon champion Brianne Theisen-Eaton have been named as ambassadors for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019

With 50 days to go until the IAAF’s showpiece event gets under way in the Qatari capital, the Eatons are looking forward to 10 days of enthralling athletics action from 27 September until 6 October in what will be their first World Championships as spectators.

For them, the highlight will fall on 2-3 October when – for the first time ever at an IAAF World Championships – the decathlon and heptathlon will be held concurrently, creating two days of excitement for fans of combined events. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games schedule will also follow this approach.

The champion pair retired after the 2016 Olympic Games, where Eaton won decathlon gold and Theisen-Eaton took the heptathlon bronze medal. But both have continued to follow the sport in recent years.

Theisen-Eaton, who earned world silver medals in the heptathlon in 2013 and 2015, is looking forward to seeing the revamped schedule in action as it provides a new showcase for the combined events.

"Athletics holds such a special place in my heart and I am truly so excited and honored to be an IAAF Ambassador, and to be a part of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019," she said. "This outdoor World Championships will be unique as it will be the first time the multi event athletes are competing together on the same two days.

"Ashton and I had the opportunity to compete side by side at both the 2014 and 2016 World Indoor Championships, and the energy created from sharing that experience together was unlike any other championship. To do this at an outdoor world championship is really special, and I’m looking forward to watching the camaraderie between the heptathletes and decathletes."

Eaton, winner of the 2013 and 2015 world decathlon titles, says the combined events will be one of the highlights of the championships.

"Some of my most memorable and transformable experiences as a person and athlete have been at the IAAF World Championships - from Berlin in 2009, to Daegu in 2011, to Beijing in 2015," said the two-time Olympic champion. "I’m excited and honored to attend Doha as an ambassador of athletics.

"This year there is anticipation for great performances in many of the single events. But in my opinion the combined events will be the marquee competition of the championships because for one, the men and women will be on the field at the same time making for a fun and lively atmosphere of sport, and two, the caliber of the athletes is arguably the best in history, both veteran and novice.

"I believe we’re witnessing the development of the best athletes of all time."

Mexican runner Juan Luis Barrios will be racing the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Mexico’s great distance runner, Juan Luis Barrios, will race the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 20, he and it race director Alan Brookes announced in Mexico City last month.

Barrios has fond memories of Toronto, where he won the gold medal in the 5,000m at the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Barrios was scheduled to represent Mexico at the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru this month, but an injury prevented him from racing. However he expects to be fully healthy in time for the Toronto event later this fall. He told a Mexican media outlet his doctor advised him to rest for two to three weeks before resuming training.

Like many elites racing STWM this year, he will be trying to qualify for the 2020 Olympic marathon. The men’s Olympic standard is 2:11:30, which should hopefully be attainable for Barrios on the fast, flat STWM course. Barrios ran 2:10:55 at the Tokyo Marathon in 2018, and 2:12:00 (good enough for an enviable third place, but narrowly missing the Olympic standard) at this year’s Los Angeles Marathon.

Mexicans comprise one of the biggest international groups at this marathon, with 700 expected to toe the line this year.

Barrios is sure to benefit from the support. Brookes extended some welcoming words to Barrios and his many compatriots who will be on the course in Toronto: “Bienvenidos a todos nuestros amigos Mexicanos… We love our Mexican runners in Toronto! They bring the city alive with their passion, strong running, and love of a fiesta!”

Stephen Sambu of Kenya and Leonard Korir of the U.S., Sara Hall and Des Linden will return for the 47th running of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race

Stephen Sambu of Kenya and Leonard Korir of the U.S., who together staged an epic battle to the finish line in 2017, and Americans Sara Hall and Des Linden will return for the 47th running of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race, organizers announced today.

The fields for the Wheelchair Division presented by Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod and the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile will be announced next week.

Sambu won the New Balance Falmouth Road Race every year from 2014-2017, becoming the first four-time winner of the men’s open division in race history. The runner-up in two of those victories was Korir, a 2016 Olympian at 10,000 meters who will represent the U.S. this fall at the IAAF World Championships. In 2017, Korir nearly denied Sambu his place in the history books in a fight to the finish that saw both athletes awarded the same time.

Sambu and Korir will be challenged by a tough international field that includes Thomas Ayeko of Uganda, who finished seventh in the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships; David Bett of Kenya, who won the B.A.A. 10K in June; and Silas Kipruto of Kenya, winner of the 2019 Cooper River Bridge Run. Massachusetts native Colin Bennie, who was the top American at the AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4, and Scott Fauble, a top contender to make Team USA at the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials in February and runner-up here last year to Canadian Ben Flanagan, should be in the hunt.

Flanagan’s season has been cut short by injury, but he will return to Falmouth to speak on a Past Champions panel at the Health & Fitness Expo, hand out gift bags at bib pickup and run with a group of local youth.

In the women’s open division, Hall – who finished second here in 2015 – comes in as the reigning USA 10K champion, and in her long career has won U.S. titles at distances ranging from the mile to the marathon. Fellow American Des Linden, a two-time OIympian and the 2018 Boston Marathon champion, will make her Falmouth competitive debut after running with the pack here last year in celebration of her Boston victory.

“It’s beautiful,” said Linden of the course after her 2018 run. “It helps you forget it’s really hard. Some really impressive things have been done on this course. It’s cool to cover it, and it would be really fun to race it.”

They will face a deep women’s field, highlighted by a trio of Kenyans: 2012 New Balance Falmouth Road Race Champion Margaret Wangari, 2018 NCAA 10,000-meter champion Sharon Lokedi and Iveen Chepkemoi, who recently finished second in the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, N.Y.  Also challenging will be two athletes from Great Britain: Lily Partridge, the 2018 national marathon champion, andTish Jones, who will compete in the marathon at the 2019 World Championships. 

Allie Kieffer, who finished fifth in the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon; Melissa Dock, the top American woman here last year who competed for Team USA at the 2019 Bolder Boulder;Molly Seidel, the 2015 NCAA 10,000-meter champion; and Nell Rojas, winner of the 2019 Grandma’s Marathon and daughter of Ric Rojas, who competed for Harvard and at one time held the 15K world record, round out a solid American lineup.

Three-time winner Caroline Chepkoech of Kenya will not return to defend her title.

First prize in the men’s and women’s open division is $10,000, part of a total $126,000 prize purse for Race Week events, which include the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile the evening before the 7-miler. In addition, the men’s and women’s winners will seek to prevail in “The Countdown.”

A beat-the-clock handicap race, “The Countdown” features a finish-line clock that starts when the first woman breaks the tape, counting down the number of minutes and seconds the winning man has to beat, according to a pre-determined formula. If the clock runs out before he crosses the line, the victorious woman wins a $5,000 bonus; if it doesn’t, the winning man takes home the money. The time to beat this year is 3 minutes and 35 seconds.

Abera and Dibabe Kuma are brothers and sister and both will be going for the win and course records in Toronto

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon has announced that the Kuma siblings of Ethiopia, Abera Kuma and his sister Dibabe Kuma, will toe the line this year on October 20. With personal bests of 2:05:50 and 2:23:34, both are in a position to contest not just the titles but the course records–and it would be a notable first for this event if a pair of siblings were to win at STWM.

This will not be the first Canadian marathon for Abera, 28, a former track runner who represented Ethiopia at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships: he finished second on a very humid day at this year’s Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, in 2:08:14. His PB of 2:05:50 is from the 2018 Rotterdam Marathon, where he finished second.

Dibabe, 22, has always focused on the road since fairly early in her career, setting her marathon PB of 2:23:34 with her third-place finish at the Ljubljana (Slovakia) Marathon last October, and winning this year’s Hamburg Marathon in 2:24:42 (where Magdalyne Masai, who will also line up against Kuma at STWM this year, finished second).

Both siblings are considered to have potential to break the course records, depending of course on the weather. The women’s record of 2:22:29 was set last year by Mimi Belete, while Philemon Ronoholds the men’s course record of 2:06:52 (from 2017). Kuma says she is not daunted by the prospect of cold weather, having triumphed in cold and wet conditions in Hamburg.

It will be the siblings’ first time traveling together to race.

Tyler McCandless says he is in the best shape of his life as he gets set to run the TCS New York City Marathon

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be racing the TCS New York City Marathon on November 3rd!

Not only do I feel that I’m in the best shape of my life beginning this training cycle, I’m fueled with more inspiration and motivation than ever thanks to my incredibly supportive and encouraging wife Kristin McCandless, and our sweet baby Levi.

I’m thankful to the New York Road Runners (NYRR) for the opportunity, my coach and former NYC Marathon champion Steve Jones & our team Boulder Harriers for always pushing me past my limits, my sponsors Altra Running & rabbit and my family and friends for all the support and positive mojo.

Marathon training requires a big commitment. However, unlike most “professional athletes” I balance training with trying to be the best husband and father I can be as well as working full-time as an atmospheric scientist.

Follow my journey to NYC in a few months, filled with 100+ mile weeks, dirty diapers, publishing scientific research and (hopefully) inspiring you on the way to get out and pursue your dreams too. 

Berlin marathon silver medalist Amos Kipruto is optimistic to clinch gold at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar

Kipruto, 27, has made the Kenya's team to the World Marathon Championships after his sensational run in Berlin chasing down Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge as he went on to set a new world record of 2:01:39 in the German capital.

Though Kipruto finished the race almost four minutes later clocking 2:06:23, it opened a door for him to represent the country at the World Championships and he has promises to help the country maintain a firm grip on the gold medal at the worlds.

"I must laud the head coach for trusting me with the duty to represent Kenya at the World Championships. It will be my first time to represent Kenya at the World Championships and I had been praying over it for some time.

"In Kenya we have many athletes and being selected means that I am living the dream itself. So it is up to me to win gold and wrap it up for the country," Kipruto said on Thursday in Eldoret.

Kipruto says Kenyan athletes have the talent, and need not waste it through short cuts by cheating.

"The short cuts are not good. This vice must be destroyed and athletes need to learn that it pays to win clean. Today, we are the most tested athletes worldwide and anyone winning does it through hard training," Kipruto said.

"If you run and train well, it will help you win clean. I know am capable of running a world record one time, but at the moment the focus is on the gold at the World championships."

Kipruto will link up with defending champion Geoffrey Kirui, two-time Paris marathon champion Paul Lonyangata, Laban Korir, and Ernest Ngeno.

At the same time former Commonwealth Games 5,000m champion Mercy Cherono is back from maternity leave and hopes to make Kenya team to the World Championships.

Cherono last won a silver medal in 5,000m during the 2013 Championships in Moscow, Russia.

"I am back in training and hope to make the World Championship team because I have nothing more to prove. Pressure is off me and all I need to do is run my race," she said.

Defending champions Mary Keitany and Lelisa Desisa will return to the TCS New York City Marathon

Keitany will go for her fifth career title in New York and Desisa will be gunning for a second.

Last year Keitany became the second woman to win in New York in the open division four times, recording the second-fastest time in event history in 2:22:48.

It was her fourth win in five years to become the only woman other than Grete Waitz to win the race four times. Keitany is the women-only marathon world record-holder (2:17:01) and a two-time winner of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, having taken the series titles in 2012 and 2016.

Keitany will be challenged this year by 2019 Boston Marathon champion Worknesh Degefa, 2019 Tokyo Marathon champion Ruti Aga, 2019 NYC Half champion Joyceline Jepkosgei, and 2018 Boston Marathon champion and two-time U.S. Olympian Des Linden.

Joining them at the starting line will also be a strong group of US 2020 Olympic team contenders including Allie Kieffer, Sara Hall, and Kellyn Taylor.

Desisa won his first New York title last year after finishing on the podium three times previously. He held off fellow Ethiopian Shura Kitata by two seconds to finish in 2:05:59, the second-fastest time in event history. Desisa also has two Boston Marathon titles to his name, having won in 2013 and 2015.

Runner-up Kitata will be back again this year to challenge Desisa, as will 2017 winner Geoffrey Kamworor, who finished third last year.

The US contingent will be led by U.S. Olympians Jared Ward and Abdi Abdirahman.

British runner Andy Vernon is set for his debut marathon in New York

Andy Vernon is amongst a top elite field announced this week for the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon.

After having to withdraw from this year’s London Marathon due to a hamstring injury the AFD man will look to lay down his 26.2 credentials on the stress of New York.

Vernon could be well suited to the hard undulating course and there will keen interest amongst British distance fans to see how the popular athlete runs in his debut marathon. We know his pedigree at cross country and at 10,000m where his has won a European silver medal and has a PB of 27:42 but he remains an unknown quantity at the marathon.

With the IAAF standard now set at 2:11:30 for men and 2:29:30 for women the most Brits will have their eyes on courses that offer the best chance for quick times for Tokyo next year.

However the dual qualification system also recognises a top 10 finish in a World Marathon Major event (which includes NYC Marathon). 10th placed finisher Chris Derrick ran 2:13:08 in 2018 and in 2017 the 10th place finisher ran 2:14:57. Despite the profile of the course these times are well within Vernon’s ability but regardless of times the race clearly affords the opportunity to build critical experience before London 2020.

History shows this can be a happy hunting ground for British Athletes. Steve Jones’ winning time of 2:08:20 in 1988 and Paula Radcliffe’s wins in 2004, 2007 and 2008 are testiment to that along with victories for priscilla Welch in 1987 and Liz McColgan in 1991.

In 2018 eight British men went inside 2:30 with Jonny Mellor leading the way in 2:16:09 for 15th place. Three British women ran inside three hours with St Albans Strider Gillian Pease (2:55:14) the fastest.

Amarjeet Singh Chawla lost his eyesight by age 40 but runs marathons to bring awareness about avoidable blindness

Amarjeet Singh, the visually impaired marathoner famously known as “Sporty Sikh”, on Sunday completed a 21-km run in Pune to raise awareness about the issue of “avoidable blindness”.

Singh was diagnosed with macular degeneration, one of the leading causes for vision loss, at the age of 13, and lost his eyesight completely by the age of 40. It was only at 48 that he started his sports career. He had earlier won a gold medal in 50m freestyle at an all-India swimming competition for disabled in Mumbai and is the only blind person to scale the 19,830-ft Dolma Pass in Tibet.

Asked how he is preparing for the Kargil Marathon, Singh said: “I have never practiced regularly for any marathon event. I am visually impaired and need a person to help me run. I cannot find a person to help me every single day. So, I practice only on the weekends and try to complete one run, be it 10km or 21km. The Kargil Marathon is on August 25. I will go there three days in advance with Rahul Brahme who has escorted me in 32 half marathons. We have a good tuning. In the three days, we will do 5km runs twice a day to get acclimatised to the weather as there is a risk of elevation in that area.”

Singh has finished 179 runs in all and there will be five more before the Kargil Marathon. “I have done 107 half marathon (21km), 66 10km runs, five ultra marathons and one intercity ultra. I wish to be a part of longer runs. I want to run from Delhi to Amritsar, which is approximately 650 km, to raise awareness against drug abuse,” he said.

Asked about the most difficult run he has completed so far, the Sporty Sikh says: “The Mumbai-Pune 160km run held in June was my first long-distance run and the most difficult so far.

I began my run from Goregaon Sports Club and a few women who had earlier participated in Pinkathon escorted me. Severe summer temperatures made the run difficult. It was 44° Celsius and the most difficult part of the race was the ghat section. This was a three-day run and I am thankful to the people who escorted me and helped me.”

The 63-year-old marathoner says he wanted to do something in life that would help people remember him. “I was approached for a fundraiser for the visually impaired persons and my first marathon was 7km. Cricketing hero Kapil Dev escorted me for 200 metres. This is when I thought that running for a cause will take me places. After that I was escorted by Milind Soman, felicitated by Sachin Tendulkar and have received the mayor’s award in Mumbai. All this appreciation keeps me going. I motivate myself and after completing every event I ask myself: ‘Bol Amarjeet, karega kya?’ (Tell me Amarjeet, will you do it?) and my inner self says yes and I get ready,” he says, adding that he never says no to run: “You can ask me to run at any point in the day; even at 2am. Just a cup up tea and I am ready.”